Adjusting your workplace dress code for return-to-office plans

Long gone are the days of power suits and high-heeled pumps in the office. Today's workers are finding comfort at home and in the office with a more relaxed approach to corporate fashion. 

The pandemic has certainly sped up the business casual trend, but even pre-pandemic, 79% of employers said they had a casual dress code or no dress code at all according to a 2019 survey by Randstad. At the time, 33% of employees would quit their job if forced to wear more formal work attire. 

"I think there's a fairly clear progression toward more casual dress codes," says James Neave, head of data science at job search site, Adzuna. "It's actually beneficial for most companies to embrace more casual dress code ethics, and there's no real cost to do this." 

Read more: From ping pong tables to cubicles, how the history of work will shape its future

After several years of remote work, the majority of employers have put dress code as a secondary concern: 55% of managers say they care more about employee performance than what they wear to work, a separate survey by Randstad found. 

As employers establish return-to-work policies and more employees head back to the office, relaxing expectations around dress code can help ease the transition, Neave says.  

"This is a fairly tricky transition that loads of companies are going through at the moment, of trying to encourage employee employees back into the office," he says. "They've had a lot of work from home exposure, and relaxing the dress code can then make that transition a little less dramatic." 

If an employer had a dress code before and wants to maintain that standard, it may be time for a mindset shift, Neave says. Employers should ask themselves why they feel a dress code is necessary, and if the perceived benefits outweigh the negative impact it could have on things like recruitment and retention. 

"From the employer's perspective, one of the challenges that could come to mind is if you think the workplace will look less professional, or could it mean that people aren't in the working mindset?" Neave says. "Think about hiring and retention, especially younger employees who are going to prefer a more relaxed dress code. These are realistic challenges that companies need to think through." 

Read more: This CEO believes company dress codes are bad for DEI 

Research from Adzuna found that most employers are giving up on more formal work attire, and are using it as a draw in their job ads: 70% cited a "casual dress code," while just 0.2% said they required "smart dress attire" in the office. 

"In more traditional industries, especially when you've got client facing roles, I think clients actually still expect people to be suited and booted," Neave says. "But it's going to vary a lot from company to company, and clearly, it just makes sense to let people dress how they wish." 

While the majority of employees will most likely stick to work-appropriate clothing, Neave says it's still important to formalize dress code standards, to avoid miscommunication. For example, requesting that employees wear shirts without logos or slogans could prevent potential offense, even if unintended. 

"Get it written down and give examples of what you mean. There's really not much more to it than that," Neave says. "That's exactly the kind of thing that you can easily work into a company handbook."